26 Jan 2014: Go Ahead Eagles - Ajax

[rjf1]

I was just saying to myself that we never score from these kind of plays Good thing that we did, because a goal from open play didn't look like it was going to happen.

[Amol]

Pretty bad game overall. All our chances were created in the first 15 minutes. Nothing really of note after that.

Glad we escaped with a 1-0 result. Top of the table with a 2 point lead.

[SPL]

GAE made us struggle in those last 10 mins. Good goal by Schone I had a horrible feeling we would give away a silly goal but this was the type of game we need to win if we are to be champs.

Just looked up and since our last defeat v Vitesse we have won 12 and drawn 1 v Milan . In those 13 games we have only let in 4 goals and I still do not think we are playing well . 8 league wins in a row is not bad and we can only get better.

2 points clear at the top and 6 clear of 3rd so a great weekend

[Orange14]

Poor tactical lineup, poor officiating, and poor play contributed to a fortunate 0-1 victory on the road. Quite lucky that Go Ahead Eagles could not finish a couple of good chances or Ajax would have dropped all three points. Whatever was FdB thinking by starting the front three that he did. Only at the beginning of the 2nd half did they move to a 3-5-2 formation with Boilesen sliding up to play wingback. Even then, Sigthorrson was pretty much useless in terms of creating any space at all. Finally when Fischer and Schöne entered the game, Bojan moved into the middle and they were in a more traditional 4-3-3. Even so most of the passing was not very good and the long balls were seldom finding anyone other than a GAE player. Regarding the officiating, a lot of trips and body checks were not called at all; don't know about Klaasen's Yellow card, even the replay couldn't tell if he was tripped or not; Serero just tripped over the keeper and that was a good no call.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6) - had virtually nothing to do and was not well served by his defense as there were at least two excellent chances for GAE to score
Boilesen (6) - tried going forward as much as possible with Bojan sucked into the middle, not terribly successful
Moisander (6) - completely missed his man on one of the GAE good chances where Veltman had to slide over leaving an open attacker, poor long passes
Veltman (7) - no mistakes and generally good game
van Rhijn (7) - a couple of really good defensive plays, one bonehead play and good going forward
Blind (7.5) - best player on the pitch over the full 90 minutes, bossed the midfield defensively
Serero (5.5) - good tracking back but poor on offense, entry passes were weak and easily intercepted
Klaasen (5.5) - not really much of a factor in the match
Bojan (6.5) - very active trying to create something up front but clearly doesn't want to stay out wide
Sigthorrson (4.5) - had one good shot on goal unfortunately right at the keeper and that was the extent of his contribution
de Sa (5) - generally poor crosses
Fischer (5.5) - should have done much better on the breakaway to finish the match off and should have taken the ball to the corner rather than shooting
Schöne (7) - well taken goal off the carom from the wall; much better out wide than de Sa
Poulsen (6) - much needed defense in the last five minutes when he came on

On top of the table by two points now. An away fixture to Utrecht coming up which is always dicey.

[Orange14]

I dont like Bojan in the team full stop. There is absolutely no place for him in the starting 11. On the left we have Fischer and the up and coming Kishna. On the right we have Schone, de Sa and the up and coming de Bondt. the striker position entails Siggy, Hoesen and the injured Siem de Jong. In attacking midfield its Serero and Klaassen and their deputies Duarte and Lucas Andersen.

Bojan is only here for one season! He's a better striker than either Hoesen or Sigthorrson (de Jong, if healthy is better in the air but not with balls at his feet). Do you really think Kishna is ready for first team football. de Bondt is not even on Jong Ajax and by all counts won't have his contract renewed. What do the midfielders have to do with Bojan (besides the fact that neither Serero or Klaasen could make a simple entry pass today)?

[SPL]

Fair comments Orange . Not sure why he went with that front 3 . Siggy was the subject of a bid by QPR this week and although he was the hero last week I would not have shed any tears had he gone. Fischer, Bojan and Schone should be the attack with Hoesen used as a sub.

A lucky win but thats football.

[Tom_]

Hmm, problem is I really can't think of a great front three given our current squad. Apart from his nice run in the middle of last season, Fischer hasn't done anything that useful and he's not a winger anyway. Bojan is only here for a few more months. de Sa tried to get some crosses in today, but they all seemed to go to the keeper or out for a goal kick.

I'm not so sure about Kolbeinn, in my opinion he's not an awful player, just average. Who else could we play there anyway? Maybe Hoesen, not convinced he's a lot better... and we all complained about de Jong when he played CF last season.

I reckon Schöne is the only attacker who has consistently played well, although he's not really a winger either, and I was a bit surprised that he didn't start today. I still think we've got the best squad overall, and we've got at least as good a shot at the title as any other team.

[SPL]

Backing up Orange on Kishna who is not ready for the first team yet .After along time injury I think he wont be rushed ,Jong Ajax for the rest of the season and trains with the first team . de Bondt is not good enough and will probably leave at the end of the season.He might even go this week on loan as the are loads of wingers in Jong Ajax at present.

[rjf1]

Speaking of wingers, Jody Lukoki scored two goals for Cambuur today -- dare I say it -- should we think about bringing him back in from the cold?

[Wie kent Cees de Wolf nog]

As a matter of fact he only scored once and wasn't exactly "man of the match"...

[ajaxusa]

Regarding the officiating, a lot of trips and body checks were not called at all; don't know about Klaasen's Yellow card, even the replay couldn't tell if he was tripped or not; Serero just tripped over the keeper and that was a good no call.

I watched this game from my referee's perspective. I don't think he had such a bad game. Regarding the two players you mention, I think he got them exactly backwards: Klassen was marginally fouled, maybe not a clear cut penalty but he shouldn't have been booked. Serero dragged his feet and absolutely played for the foul, dove, and should have been booked. In the end, it was a fair tally, maybe even a conscious decision by the referee to balance the ledger.

On a personal note, this game was fun for me because we have Watch ESPN to the big screen TV at home now, so I got to watch it with my son, eating some good breakfast and waking the rest of the house up when Ajax finally scored. :-)

[Orange14]

On a personal note, this game was fun for me because we have Watch ESPN to the big screen TV at home now, so I got to watch it with my son, eating some good breakfast and waking the rest of the house up when Ajax finally scored. :-)

If your cable provider offers ESPN Desportes make sure to check the schedule as they carry one Eredivisie match per week. It was fun watching this one in Spanish (which I'm fluent) as each score was met with a resounding Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal from the announcer!

[ajaxcolombia]

The only problem with Espn deportes is that they are a little biased towards psv because they traditionally have more Latino players, like my compatriot santiago arias right now.